two instances of gnucash?

[Maf. King]

On Tuesday 09 Nov 2004 10:19, andy thomas wrote:
> On Tue, 9 Nov 2004, Maf. King wrote:
> > On Tuesday 09 Nov 2004 06:19, andy thomas wrote:
> > > Out of interest, what is the "official" gnucash way to close out
> > > accounts at the end of an accounting year and then begin another year's
> > > accounts, carrying over the same account tree and balances?
> >
> > Errrm, there isn't one.  This crops up on the list every so often, and
> > the world seems to have two halves - those that don't close out, so that
> > the reports can show multiple years of data (or just current year
> > depending on settings), and those that want to close out, to keep things
> > tidy, to keep data files smaller, because it feels "right" (maybe that is
> > a "UK"-thing?)
>
> I thought it was standard accounting practice worldwide do accounts on, at
> most, a yearly basis, as accounts need to be drawn up & presented at
> AGM's, sent to government agencies dealing with registered copmpanies, etc?
> Some accounts I have seen in some places have been done on a quarterly
> basis.
>

Yes, but the point is that you can do this in GC by selective reporting.  
Theory goes that you don't actually have to have a data file which 
corresponds to an accounting period - just a reproducible report on a subset 
of data for a longer period.  However, I like keeping each tax year as a 
separate entity. (data, reports, paperwork etc)

<SNIP>

>
> If I start off with an empty tree and just add transactions, there
> wouldn't be any need for a 'delete transaction' step? Or am I missing
> something?
>

correct.  you export your accounts tree structure, which is then an "empty" 
tree and then populate it with opening balances.  No deletion required.

Cheers,
Maf.


> Andy
>